Global Courant
New data has provided the link showing previous deaths due to noise. Until now, noise is a form of pollution that most people are not aware of that it has a detrimental effect on their health. Thousands of people around the world die prematurely from heart disease caused by prolonged exposure to excessive noise, a World Health Organization (WHO) study found. In 2003, the World Organization Working Group on Noise Environmental Impact on Disease started studying the health effects of noise in Europe.
In addition to the link between cardiovascular disease, two percent of Europeans suffer from serious sleep disturbances due to noise pollution and fifteen percent suffer from serious annoyance. Chronic exposure to traffic noise causes three percent of tinnitus cases, where people hear a constant ringing in their ears.
Research in recent years has shown that noise can increase levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine in the body, even during sleep. The longer these hormones remain circulating in the bloodstream, the more likely they are to cause life-threatening physiological problems.
High stress levels can lead to heart failure, stroke, high blood pressure and immune problems. The WHO arrived at its figures by comparing households with abnormally high exposure to noise with those in quieter homes.
According to WHO guidelines, the noise threshold for cardiovascular problems is a chronic nighttime exposure of fifty decibels (50 db) or more than light traffic noise. For sleep disturbance, the threshold is forty-two decibels (42 dB), for general annoyance thirty-five decibels (35 dB), the sound of a whisper.
As our environment becomes busier and noisier, noise pollution can be stressful and can trigger a heart attack in people with heart disease.
Excessive exposure to noise can cause heart disease
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